Rise of the Fallen

by Chuck Black

  Eber leaned back, apparently preparing a careful reply. He glanced toward Tamaral as she picked up a chalice of wine and offered it to him. She said nothing and made no gesture except to offer a smile with the wine. Eber took the wine and looked back at Nimrod.

  “And what of God, Nimrod? What do you say of Him?”

  “What of God?” Nimrod’s eyes narrowed. “I have chosen to dispense with the burdens of service to a deity that is not real. I am free of the folly of a god, as you should be too.”

  “Free?” Eber asked.

  “Yes, free!”

  Eber looked once more to Tamaral. There was a quiet, confident strength in her gaze. He lifted his hand to her. She hesitantly put her hand in his.

  “This young maiden is a commoner from your very own city, trapped in poverty and service to your rule. Who will free her from the god you have become to her and to all of the people of Shinar?” Eber asked.

  Nimrod glowered at Eber. He rose up and set his hands on the table before him. Eber set the chalice down and rose up to face Nimrod, now unafraid.

  The hall fell to silence, guards fingered their swords, and the servants scattered to the walls and hallways, all but Tamaral, who stood silently and confidently beside Eber. Validus could see the blue flame of Ruach Elohim begin to dance about her head and shoulders. The flame licked out at Eber, and his face became firm with confidence.

  It was Eber who spoke first. “Let it be known to you and to all who serve you, Nimrod, that I, Eber, son of Salah, will not help you build this tower, for I serve the God of Noah, the God who blesses the righteous and brings judgment to the wicked.”

  Hatred and rage spewed from Nimrod’s eyes. Fury boiled up in his soul until he could not contain it. He yelled as he drew his sword. “How dare you offend me in my city … in my own house!”

  Every armed man in the hall, both of Nimrod and of Eber, drew his sword in anticipation of the battle to come. Simultaneously so did every demon and every angel. The battle would be fought in both realms, and unfortunately Eber’s men were seriously outnumbered, as were the angels.

  Kelandar turned to Validus, Persimus, and Ral. “These two must survive at all cost,” he ordered, pointing to Eber and Tamaral.

  Each of them knew what that meant. No matter how wrong the battle might go, there would be no retreat, even unto dissolution.

  Eber was the last to draw his sword, and as he did, he looked resolutely at Nimrod. “This place is a place of blasphemy, and you will be judged for your rebellion against God. Though I and my servants die today, God is my witness in our stand against you and your rebellion.”

  Nimrod yelled and came at Eber. It was the spark that initiated the battle within the walls of Nimrod’s hall, both of men and of angels.

  Eber pushed Tamaral back and away from the flashing blades of Nimrod and his men. Clashing steel reverberated off the marble walls and columns of the great hall. Though outnumbered two to one, both Eber’s men and the angel warriors fought valiantly.

  At one point six of the Fallen pressed in hard on Validus and his men in their protection of Eber and Tamaral. Validus drew his short sword and mimicked a battle move he had witnessed Danick use countless times in his pre-Deluge battles. He feigned an off-balance stance to the left, appearing to be vulnerable. When one of the Fallen thrust, he quickly sidestepped right and forward, thrusting his short sword through the demon’s chest, followed quickly by a wide cut to the Fallen next to him.

  Niturni came at Validus, but Kelandar engaged him first. Chaos reigned as the battle raged on. It wasn’t long before men and angels began to falter. Eber kept an ever-watchful eye on Tamaral, as did Validus.

  “We must make a way to the exit doors before all is lost,” Validus yelled to the other warriors, but each time they tried to advance, the Fallen doubled their efforts to close off their approach. Kushad called for more reinforcements to block any avenue of escape.

  When all seemed lost, at their moment of collapse, one hundred messenger angels descended through the ceiling of the great hall, hovering and waiting. In the midst of them was Gabriel, eyes burning like fire as he gazed down on the desperate battle of his fellow angels.

  Kushad screamed curses toward Gabriel and his century of angels. “This is treachery! You cannot interfere or you will be dissolved. This is our city! Our land! Be gone from here!”

  “Behold the judgment of God!” Gabriel’s countenance grew fierce as he swept down toward Kushad like a rush of lightning, his brilliant sword drawn back to strike. Kushad retreated behind a large marbled column, cowering in fear.

  At the last moment, Gabriel diverted toward the unsuspecting King of Babel, Nimrod. His sword sliced through the man’s neck as he gave orders to his officers.

  “Send my soldiers to kill all of Eber’s people!” Nimrod yelled, but his people heard “Insanlari öldürmek için benim asker göndermek!”

  His officers stood dumbfounded, gawking at their king. Nimrod’s face grew red with rage, and he yelled again. Every ear in the hall heard his command this time, but none understood him. The fighting ebbed.

  Gabriel gave the signal to his waiting messengers, and like a wave crashing down on the shore, the messengers flew swiftly, touching the throats of every person in the hall—all but Eber and his people. Validus hesitated, as he too wondered at the mission of Gabriel and his angels.

  “My king, we don’t understand you,” one of Nimrod’s men called back in a different tongue.

  Nimrod cursed and came to the man. He grabbed him about the shoulders and shook him. But then he heard the other officers, each one trying to talk to another and failing.

  Confusion quickly turned to chaos, and the swords in the soldiers’ hands began to droop. The entire hall filled with the shouts of hundreds of different languages.

  As soon as Gabriel and his angels had finished confusing the tongues of the people in the hall, they exited and flew through the streets of Babel, giving the people hundreds of different languages so that they too could not understand one another.

  The clashing of swords dwindled away until there was nothing but the voices of a hundred languages all trying to express themselves. The confusion so discombobulated the forces of Nimrod that the fight to destroy Eber and his men was nearly forgotten.

  “What’s happening, Eber?” Eliazar called out.

  Eber shook his head, almost afraid to speak. His remaining twenty-two men slowly gathered around him. Eber called for Tamaral and the other servants to join them.

  She reached for his hand. “It is the hand of God, my lord.”

  Eber looked down at Tamaral, his eyes filled with amazement. “Quickly … to the doors! And do not cease in your prayers to our Deliverer!”

  With swords at the ready, Eber and his men made their way to the doors of Nimrod’s great hall. Nimrod’s guards had no fight left in them. They began to flee, searching for someone they could understand.

  For Validus and Elohim’s angel warriors, the lapse in fighting was temporary. Once Kushad realized what had happened, he became mad with rage.

  “Kill them! Kill them all!”

  Niturni was the first to resume the attack. Validus was ready, and words of power and strength landed gently on his ears as Eber began to pray out loud.

  “Great are You, oh God. Mighty are Your works among men. Let the beauty of Your glory be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us, for we shall trust in You!”

  Tamaral joined her prayers to his, and soon all of Eber’s people were praying and praising God as they moved toward the doors of Nimrod’s hall.

  Just as Kushad and Niturni rallied the rest of the Fallen to attack, the power of Ruach Elohim shot down from heaven on Eber and his people and filled the place with His glory. The demons screamed and retreated.

  Kelandar, Validus, and the rest of the angel forces escorted Eber and his people from the hall and into the city. Outside, the mayhem was even worse. People were running everywhere as panic ensued.


  “Gather the rest of our people. We leave immediately!” Eber commanded Eliazar. He looked down at Tamaral, whose eyes were filled with both wonder and fear. She clung to his arm. “Come with me and join yourself to my people,” he said to her.

  “My family, my lord,” Tamaral pleaded.

  Eber grabbed Eliazar’s arm.

  Eliazar looked at Tamaral with compassion in his eyes. “I will personally see to it, my lord.”

  Kushad and his forces seemed to rally, but Guilden and the rest of Kelandar’s legion were already moving. Their assault from two different directions added more confusion to the battle, and the Prince of Shinar screamed his defiance and curses toward heaven.

  The battle raged on until Eber and his people finally left the city. The legions of Guilden and Kelandar disengaged to provide cover for the retreating caravan.

  By nightfall, the Battle of Babel was over. It was a day of division and of unification. A day in which Eber’s faith in God became resolute because of the heart of one young maiden.

  Two months after Eber defied Nimrod and escaped with his people back to their home, he took Tamaral to be his wife. When their first child was born, they named him Peleg, for in those days was the earth divided. The people of the Shinar Valley spread across the face of the earth, leaving Nimrod’s great city and tower of defiance unfinished and desolate.

  19

  TRACKING CARTER

  Present Day

  It was nightfall. Validus found Tren standing near the edge of the trees at the back of Drew Carter’s home. His arms were crossed and his gaze was ever on the house.

  “Are we clear?” Validus asked.

  Tren didn’t respond.

  Validus was immediately frustrated with him. This was going to be a long mission. One thing he had learned about command was that you don’t let things fester. Perhaps Tren was so used to working alone that this was just his mode of operation, but Validus felt like there was something more. He turned to face Tren.

  “Look, I don’t like this assignment any more than you do. In fact, I petitioned General Brandt against it, but here I am … and here you are. If we are going to work together as guardian and warrior, we need the air clear between us.”

  Tren turned slowly and looked at Validus, eyes seething with an ancient grudge. “Do you know how many children we have watched be destroyed by Apollyon?”

  Validus waited. How could this be personal?

  “For thousands of years before Messiah came, the warriors abandoned the guardians to an impossible duty. Countless children and thousands of guardians died because the warriors would not go with us to the outer lands. I just want to know why.”

  The memories of an angel are vivid, and Validus saw Tren’s eyes sadden as he remembered back to the days before Messiah. Validus remembered those days well too—decisions made, actions taken, and actions not taken. He had been part of it.

  Validus dropped his gaze. “I’m not going to pretend to understand the pain a guardian endures when a child is lost to the whims of evil men. But what I can tell you is that General Danick made some tough decisions for the sake of the Plan. And because of it, millions of children today are hearing the truth and coming to salvation. War is always messy, Tren, and there’s no war worse than the one we are fighting right now.”

  Validus saw Tren’s countenance ease a bit.

  “For some reason,” Validus continued, “Elohim has put us together, and we have a job to do. And I’ll make this promise to you: this warrior will never abandon you.”

  Tren took a deep breath and turned to look at the Carter home. “Yes, we’re clear. I haven’t seen any Fallen since you left, but it’s a good thing you’re back.” Tren spoke almost as if the previous conversation had never happened, but the edge in his voice was gone.

  “Why’s that?”

  Tren didn’t take his eyes off the home. “By the way Carter’s acting, I’d say he’s about ready to take a trip and not come back.”

  “How do you know? Have you heard him say so?”

  “No, I’ve stayed out of sight, and we need to continue to do so until we can verify that the Fallen aren’t watching him, but I’ve observed enough human behavior to know when a man or woman is about to do something out of the ordinary.” Tren pointed at the house. “And he’s primed.”

  Validus frowned. “I don’t like guessing at his intentions, but I think we’d better play it safe. The fact that we are both standing here is enough to know that something unusual must be happening or is about to happen.”

  The following day, Tren’s suspicions were confirmed. Shortly after Carter’s mother left for work, they watched as the young man loaded his car with supplies, fueled up, and made a stop at a bank. A few moments later he was on the highway heading east.

  Validus and Tren followed at a distance, often riding in various vehicles until they arrived at Drayle University. When Carter left his car and began walking toward the student union, Validus pushed through the trunk of his Mustang and took a quick inventory of his pack.

  “He’s not planning on returning any time soon … if ever,” he said to Tren as they watched the young man walk away.

  Tren made a quick scan of the campus. “We need to be extremely careful here. The Fallen have a lot of influence on campuses like these.”

  “Is this where the accident happened?” Validus asked.

  “Yes, in the physics lab. Why don’t you take a look there and see what you can find. I’ll follow him.”

  Validus nodded and bolted north to put some distance and a building between himself and Carter. The reconstruction crew seemed to be on lunch break, so Validus was free to examine the lab without distractions. There wasn’t much to evaluate. All the equipment had been removed and the offices cleared out to allow the reconstruction crew access to the whole lab.

  Rather than rejoin Tren right away, Validus decided to see if he could learn anything by checking the records of the university. He read the report that the dean of the Physics department had filed and learned that Benjamin Berg was accused as the perpetrator and had been expelled from the university. Carter was cited as an accomplice and dismissed for the remainder of the year for injuries sustained during the accident.

  Validus then checked out Carter’s previous dorm room and his former roommate to see if he could learn anything new. Nothing. He made one more visit back to the lab after realizing that Berg may have left something behind in a desk that could help, but he came up empty. He walked over to the window that looked down on the campus. It seemed too peaceful. Where were the Fallen?

  A twinge of self-pity rose up from the pit of his stomach. He had fought in a thousand battles across the sands of time, and now he was searching through files and desk drawers for scraps of evidence. And for what? He wondered if the blade of his sword would ever see the light of day again.

  Validus watched as Carter and a girl who must be Sydney Carlyle walked out of the student union. In a small way, they reminded him of Eber and Tamaral from the days of old—Tamaral and Sydney Carlyle passionate about their faith in Elohim, Eber and Drew Carter thrust into circumstances beyond their control, desperately needing the faith that was right before them. Good men just misdirected.

  Even from three blocks away it was obvious to Validus that there was a connection between Carter and Carlyle that could only be explained by human emotions. The couple entered one of the campus buildings.

  Somehow Validus and Tren needed to get closer to Carter without giving away their purpose if any Fallen appeared. He had to know more.

  Just then something flashed between two buildings. Validus was pretty sure it was one of the Fallen, but why was it acting so secretive?

  Across the street from the building Carter had entered, a Fallen materialized through another building and scanned up and down the street. He was clearly a lookout.

  Something was going down.

  20

  THE STRATAGEM OF LINEAGE WARFARE

  2236 BC

/>   “We must protect the wayfarers!” Brandt glared at General Danick from across the table, but Danick didn’t notice. He was studying the elaborate lineage chart that spilled over all four edges of the table.

  Eight of their primus commanders along with General Danick’s new executive officer, Validus, stood in the command room watching the exchange between the remaining two veteran warriors.

  “The guardians won’t stand a chance without our help in the outlying lands.”

  Danick seemed unfazed. Validus was anxious for him though. Commander Brandt was not someone to be ignored. Of the original two hundred commanders, only Danick, Brandt, and Captain Rafinni had made it through the first-generation war and still survived.

  Validus watched the anger build in Brandt until he could take it no more. He slammed a fist down on the table in front of Danick.

  “We must act, Danick, or we will lose this war faster than we lost the first one. You should be studying tactics, maps, and enemy fortifications, not this silly chart of names! Don’t you care about saving humanity?”

  Validus wished he were someplace else. It unnerved him to see his two commanding angels at odds, and with such intensity.

  Danick slowly lifted his head and glared back at Brandt. He stood straight and crossed his arms. “Tell me, Commander Brandt, how would the tactic of chasing every tribe to the four corners of the earth change anything from how we fought the first war? Run the numbers. We have enough warriors to cover humanity right now, but remember how quickly the population grew to five billion people. We were spread so thin that Tarsis was able to pick us off one legion at a time until we couldn’t even defend the last city. And now that Elohim has divided their languages, they will spread across the face of the earth even faster.”

  Brandt huffed and turned away. He pointed to the north. “Five thousand people are journeying north right now, and we have over two hundred thousand warriors sitting idle. How is that fulfilling our duty to Elohim?”